Emmanuel Wille

“Love, love and more love,’’ is, according to Emmanuel Wille, head chef of Olde Hansa, a unique Estonian medieval restaurant in Tallinn, the most important thing in cooking.

Originally from Belgium, Emmanuel is most at home in French-Belgian cuisine, and the emphasis is on finding balance in every dish. 

Each of his dishes take about three months to perfect – finding the right products, honing the flavours and ensuring every one is the perfect balance of texture, sweetness and acidity.

For the past 30 years Emmanuel has lived in Estonia, but his desire to cook goes back far beyond then – to the tender age of six.

He started helping out in a restaurant when he was just 13, ran his first catering company at 16 and at 22 worked in a two Michelin star restaurant in Belgium.

Today, he divides his time between the Olde Hansa and the home cafe Chef’s Manu

DoubleDecker in Jõelähtme, which he created.

He teaches at Saaremaa Vocational School a few times a month, and when he has time, he guides chefs at the Bocuse d’Or cooking competition.

“Freedom is very important to me and I like to combine different projects. Life should be fun’’ he said.

Creating dishes for Olde Hansa also gives Emmanuel the opportunity to indulge his passion for medieval history.

“In Olde Hansa, I have to reprogram myself and go to the Middle Ages,” he said.

“It has taken a lot of learning to understand what can and cannot be used in recipes. Slow cooked food is central to my cooking.

“I marinate the duck for two days, after which I cook it in fat for 10-12 hours at a low temperature. I cook the bear all night, sauerkraut for five hours, onion jam for four hours.

“I use new techniques, but cook food slowly,’’ he says. Emmanuel believes that a good chef treats raw materials, employees and tools with respect. “You have to love what you make, know how to organise your work and not be afraid.”